What are fast-track medical courses?

Fast-track medical courses were introduced two years ago in the UK.

They enable postgraduate students from non-scientific backgrounds to become doctors within four years instead of the usual five or six.

The courses are based on programmes which have been running in the United States for decades and in Australia for the past 10 years.

They are aimed at boosting the number of medical graduates eligible to work as doctors in the UK.

Supporters say they also help to strengthen the medical profession because they attract a 'different type' into medicine.

Many of those signed up to the integrated courses have Arts degrees and may not have considered a career in medicine if the four-year courses were not available.

How does the course differ?

The most obvious difference between the fast-track course and the traditional undergraduate programme is the length of time it takes to complete - four years instead of five or six.

However, the curricula also differ.

In the undergraduate programme, students learn science and anatomy before they move onto medicine and clinical practice.

In the fast-track course, students learn science and clinical medicine side-by-side.

They also get hands-on experience of treating patients much earlier on.

Do the students learn as much?

The medical schools offering the fast-track courses say students will be as competent when they graduate as those who complete the undergraduate five or six-year course.

They insist that fast-track students learn as much as other medicine students and that nothing has been cut out.

Deans say that shorter holidays in the first two years, innovative teaching methods and the fact that postgraduate students learn faster than those straight from school enable them to cover the course in four years.

The General Medical Council which is legally responsible for ensuring high standards in medical schools across the UK also says there is no evidence to suggest the fast-track courses are sub-standard.

However, critics say the courses were not properly tested before they were introduced in the UK.

Others say it is too early to judge - the first fast-track medical students will not graduate for another two years.

Are fast-track courses the way forward?

Four medical schools offered the postgraduate integrated courses in 2000. This year, another five are running the four-year programmes.

The vast majority of doctors continue to qualify through the traditional route - by studying medicine for five years after finishing school.

Nevertheless, some people including the government hope the fast track courses will become popular in the years ahead - not least because they will help to tackle the huge shortage of doctors across the UK.